CQWW Results from ZF8BS

[zf8bs at twg.com]

First, the results:

      Call: ZF8BS                    Country:  Cayman Islands
      Mode: CW                       Category: Single Operator, Low Power

      BAND     QSO    ZONES COUNTRIES   EQUIPMENT

      160      128      6       7       Alpha/Delta 80/160 Sloper @ 45'
       80      442     12      29       Dipole + Alpha/Delta 80/160 Sloper @ 45'
       40      428     20      49       Cushcraft 40-2EL @ 40'
       20     1095     21      59       TA-33 @ 45'
       15      665     18      39       TA-33 @ 45'
       10      188     16      22       TA-33 @ 45'
     ---------------------------------------------------

     Totals   2946     93     205  =>  1,899,154
             (plus 82 dupes!)

Team:  Wild Wild West  (I didn't find this out until I got back.)

And now, the excuses:
  - The operator was definitely not tuned up quite right (think it had
    something to do with trying to start the contest right after having been
    out SCUBA diving in the tropical sun all day).
  - Stayed up all night Friday night but crashed about 2 a.m. local time
    on Sunday morning.  Slept right through the alarm clock and missed the
    the local sunrise on Sunday.
  - My first CQWW from outside CA.  There's a lot to learn on this one!  I
    still have no idea how to make the decision between S&P and running a freq.
  - I commited a cardinal sin:  I let myself get discouraged in the middle of
    the contest and slowed down.
Comments:
  The first six to give me all six was N6DX, and I do indeed have a present
I brought back for him.  A very special thanks to him and to the others who 
gave me all 6: K3WW, N2RM, W3LPL, K4CEF, K1KI, KY1H, N4XR, N5RZ, K2PS, K1KP,
W1PH, and WX0B.
  This was a real learning experience for me.  In doing the ARRL-DX contest
from the Carribean, you just have to be able to hold a frequency (or find
new ones quickly).  In this contest, you have to be able to bust pile-ups
as well.  Thus low power and small antennas turn out to be a major 
disadvantage here, wheras in the ARRL contest it is only a minor handicap.
  Little Cayman was, as always, just incredible.  I have been diving all 
over the Caribbean and have never seen any other place that even comes close.
The weather was absolutely perfect (about 86 degrees, clear skys, gentle
breeze).  There is an ambiance down there that just has to be experienced
to be appreciated.  It's very laid back!
  After SSB-SS, I decided to do NO SSB.  Good move.  It made it a lot easier
outside the contest to be able to stand by for the DX countries where a 
QSO with a Caribbean station is difficult and so is valued.  But still, I
had to put up with a lot of jamming by US stations who were offended when
I would take only JA's or EU on 80/160.  Why do these guys think they are
entitled to just barge in???  

  A note on logistics:  Several people on the net have contacted me wanting
to rent "my" place on Little Cayman.  While I do own some property down 
there (hence the ZF8 call, which is for residents), it isn't developed--yet.
It's just a hunk of empty land on the beach.  I have been renting ZF8AA's 
cottage, which you will see advertised in the classifieds of QST and maybe 
elsewhere.  I grabbed onto this idea after K1XM & Co. did this for CQWW '90 
and then sent out those incredible QSL cards.  I have since gone down there 
4 times for 1-2 weeks worth of hamming and diving.  ZF8AA, Ron, has a 2 story 
house WITH THE SHACK ON THE FIRST FLOOR and then a small cottage about 50' 
away.  He used to live in the house and rent the cottage.  Now, however, he 
lives near Seattle and is trying to manage the properties from WA while 
they are up for sale.  It isn't working.  The first couple of times I was there,
the house was empty, and that was just idylic.  Last February, though, he had 
the house rented out to a group of 18-20 construction workers.  That was a 
major headache.  They ran the cistern dry of water (hence no showers, no coffee,
no flushing commodes) and made an incredible racket.  I complained, and Ron
said such problems would never again happen.  This time around I found the 
house rented to some greaseball from the South Bronx who had become used to 
bullying the hams staying in the cottage.  It seems Tony thinks the house is 
his, all his, and people going in to use the shack are nothing but interlopers.
I had been warned about this guy by two previous groups of people who have been
down there recently, including the guys who put ZF2MC on for CQWW SSB.  But,
believing I can handle anything, I went on the trip anyway.  It didn't take 
long before I found myself in a major confrontation with Tony and had the 
opportunity of utilizing some of the interpersonal skills I learned years ago 
when I trained Marine Corps recruits at Parris Island.  That sent him packing 
quickly enough, but the experience left me with a really sour taste.  One 
doesn't go on vacation in order to suffer these kinds of antagonisms.  (He 
complains about TVI, about the noise of the door being opened, about voice 
racket when operating SSB, etc., etc.)  I would strongly recommend to anyone 
thinking of following in my footsteps that you not do it until such time as 
you KNOW you will not have problems from people renting the house.  I know I 
won't be going back anytime soon, and I do dearly love Little Cayman!  It
pains me to say this, because Ron has been such a wonderful gentleman to deal
with.  But he does have a problem there, and any ham going down and renting
the cottage is going to suffer until Ron fixes that problem.

                                               Bruce, AA6KX

>From k2mm at MasPar.COM (John Zapisek)  Sun Dec  4 08:57:07 1994
From: k2mm at MasPar.COM (John Zapisek) (John Zapisek)
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 94 00:57:07 PST
Subject: 126 Qs On 160 With R-7 Vertical
Message-ID: <9412040857.AA12290 at greylock.local>

These 160-meter CW contests are always a gas.  (No, not *that* kind of gas.)
Loading my R-7 vertical on 160 is such a mind-blower that I can't keep from
laughing every time I make a real contact with it!  

I think on 160 the antenna system includes the metal guy wires just below
the "counterpoise radials" and the metal flashing encircling the roof and
touching the guys.  My MN-2700 tuner gives a good enough match to get 100 W
out of my TS-440 and 500 W out of my AL-811 amp.  It's necessary, though, to
tweak the tuner every time I move 10 kHz.

I started out barefoot but retrieved my amp from a friend Friday night when
I decided making contacts across the Mississippi might be nice.  It seemed
only fair to everybody trying to copy me that I try my best to _be_ copied!

Bottom line:  K2MM/6-10,836-126-43

Good-ears awards: K9HMB, K2WI, KL7Y, AB4RU, AA4S, K3MD, W3GH, VE4JB, KB1H

Alligators:  How should I know?  I was puny weak.  But N5RZ copied me FB :-)

I decided to sign "/6" in this test.  Being so weak, the 6- and 7-landers
could easily mistake me for a "real 2".  I'm sure it helped cut down on QTH
fill requests.

Thanks to everyone who copied me.  73.  --John/K2MM